


Smoke knights shouldn't have to hide in the closet

by story_forger643



Category: Girl Genius (Webcomic)
Genre: Agatha is awkward, Bang has popcorn, Coming Out, F/F, F/M, Gil is not as oblivious as people think, Hurt/Comfort, Internalized Homophobia, Lesbian Violetta Mondarev, M/M, Multi, Self-Acceptance, Self-Discovery, Sleipnir exists, Tarvek is trying but also closeted, They all need hugs, Unrequited Crush, Zeetha is supportive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 10:21:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22968391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/story_forger643/pseuds/story_forger643
Summary: "Violetta, aren't you the smoke knight who walked out of Castle Heterodyne? You have nothing to be ashamed of."And that's about when Violetta began to feel very...strange things about Agatha.Or, in which Violetta is a gay disaster, Zeetha is Zeetha, Tarvek is a good brother, Agatha is awkward, Gil is less oblivious than we think, and Bang has popcorn.
Relationships: Agatha Heterodyne & Violetta Mondarev, Agatha Heterodyne/Tarvek Sturmvoraus/Gilgamesh "Gil" Wulfenbach, Gilgamesh "Gil" Wulfenbach & Violetta Mondarev, Violetta Mondarev & Tarvek Sturmvoraus, Violetta Mondarev & Zeetha Daughter of Chump, Violetta Mondarev/Agatha Heterodyne (One sided)
Comments: 33
Kudos: 19





	1. In which Violetta is a gay disaster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Violetta is nervous, but smoke feels nothing. It definitely doesn’t have anything to do with Agatha, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because no one ever said that Violetta isn’t gay, she is now!

“VI! LOOK OUT!”

Violetta was a smoke knight, she didn’t need to be told to look out, especially for a two-ton burning ball of insanity. Yet there Agatha was, watching out for her yet again.

She jumped to the platform near the edge of the lab, safely away from the ball’s path, and surveyed the lab, most of which was crushed, on fire, or both. Because what else would you expect working with sparks?

“Okay, okay, I think we’ve got it secured guys. Great call on jamming it in the stairs to stop it Moloch.” Theo’s voice was surprisingly calm for someone who had just been saved by his girlfriend swinging from a chandelier (why did the Old Heterodynes put chandeliers in a lab?!!) and grabbing him with a two-foot claw.

“Who’s idea even was this? I leave you alone for ten minutes, and BOOM! Catastrophe strikes!”   
  


“Hello to you too, Zeetha.” Gil’s voice was tired and worn out; he was done with it all and just looked like he needed sleep.

“Come on, you know I’m not wrong. Aren’t you supposed to be the smart twin?”

“Well, excuse me if I’m somewhat concussed from an old flaming hive engine running me over, dear sister!”

“Well, I guess we won’t be getting any help from those two for the next five minutes,” Agatha sighed, pulling herself out from the rubble which she was hiding behind. “Violetta! You wanna try and help me get Moloch down from that pole?”

“Uhhh...I think we should leave him to cling onto it for dear life for another minute or two, then I’ll help you get him.” Violetta stammered a bit, which was...why was she doing that? Smoke knights don’t stammer!

“Oh, alright,” Agatha said, walking over to the stairwell, which was currently on fire. “Castle, do you mind putting that out?”

**_Oh, very well, Mistress,_ ** the Castle boomed,  **_but I feel as if you may need help removing the engine afterwards._ **

“I can do that!” Violetta yelled a little too enthusiastically.

“Um, sure, Vi! Just let me grab a few of the jagers to help as well!”

“Uh, yeah! No problem. I’ll um, wait here. For you to return. With jagers. Right. Waiting here. Yeah.”

Agatha had already left halfway through what Violetta was saying. So why did she keep talking? Why was she so eager to volunteer for a jager job? Why was she so happy a minute ago but also nervous and excited? Smoke knights aren’t nervous! Why was her heart beating so-

“Violetta, did you hear me?”

“What? Yes! Definitely! Maybe. No.”

Agatha took a deep sigh. “I said, can you get down there to attach this line to the hook on the engine over there so the jagers can get it out?”

“Oh yeah, absolutely! Whatever you need! I can do that!” Violetta mentally kicked herself. No one is that enthusiastic about a simple job! Why was she acting like this?

“Uhh...okay, sure, Vi. Just get it done fast.”

“Right! You got it! On my way to go attach this line...yeah!” Violetta backed away before jumping down the pit to get to work.

After jumping down and securing the line, she ran back up it, and gave the jagers the go-ahead to start hoisting. Violetta then turned and walked over to Agatha, who was talking to Zeetha and looking somewhere between flustered and annoyed.

“Agatha, I’ve decided. You’re not marrying Gil. He’s too much of an idiot for you.”

“Hey, he figured out that Higgs was a general before any of us, so-”

“Higgs worked for him; they spent large amounts of time together on missions, and you and Tarvek were both out of it for over two years with the time stop! And Higgs is very good at hiding things!”   
  


“Yes, yes, Zeetha, we all know how much you love your boyfriend. My point is-”

“That neither Gil nor Tarvek is even somewhat intelligent around you, Agatha?” Violetta interjected, eager to talk to Agatha.

“There’s a point there, Violetta. But, ah, what about your boyfriend? Isn’t he still clinging to that pipe?” Zeetha pointed at Moloch, who was indeed still clinging to the pipe, with Snaug desperately trying to calm him down.

“What? Me and Moloch? No way, Zeetha!” Violetta laughed at the very idea. “He’s clearly into Snaug.”

“Seriously? I thought you said back in England that you had a thing for him and you didn’t want him to leave!” Zeetha sounded very skeptical, practically staring Violetta into the ground.

“Yeah, well, I thought I did, but then I thought about it some more and realized I really wouldn’t want to be with him. I don’t think he’s...my type.”

“Oh? And what is your type?”

“You two continue to talk about your love lives, I have work to do.” Agatha began to walk over to where the jagers had just finished pulling the hive engine out of the shaft.

“Hey, uh, Agatha! Do you need anymore help? Cause I can totally help if, say, you needed some more help…”

“...no, I don’t think we need more help, Violetta. It’s mostly just spark work at this point. Go and take a walk or something, you seem nervous.” Agatha sounded slightly worried in her tone.

“Um, uh, yeah! No problem! Bye!”

Violetta left the lab quickly. Dammit, why was she acting this way? Why was she so nervous around Agatha? Why did she care so much about if Agatha thought she was okay or not? Why did she want to help Agatha so much even though Agatha probably doesn’t need help cause she was so perfect and awesome and amazing and smart and beautiful and Violetta just wanted to be with her and stay with her and hold her and kiss her and…

Wait…

_ Fuck. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone has their “shit I’m gay/shit I like that person/shit I’m aro/ace moment”. This is where Violetta gets hers.
> 
> Please give advice/feedback/constructive criticism.
> 
> Thank you, and have a good day!


	2. In which Zeetha is supportive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Violetta has a breakdown, and Zeetha is there to offer pep talks and hugs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is 1am. Why am I doing this? Because why not. Credit to Samarkand12 on Discord for inspiring what led to Violetta's crush

Violetta had known there was something different about her ever since she was a little kid. When she was about ten, she had heard Seffie talking about how amazing one of the smoke knights who was guarding her was, and how he was just “incredibly cute”. All the other girls seemed to agree, and even Tarvek had noted that “he is, by all standards, objectively attractive”, but Violetta didn’t get it. She didn’t see anything in him at all.

But then they met his partner, this incredible woman who was perfect in every way, shape, and form. Violetta had seen her, and immediately gotten this feeling in her chest, this eagerness to impress yet nervousness around her, and had wanted to be in every class with her, wanted to be with her.

This made no sense to Violetta until she was twelve. That was when they had lessons on health, and sex, and, for some reason, homosexuality. Violetta heard her classmates descriptions of what romantic love felt like to them, and then about gay and lesbian, and then it made sense.

But she couldn’t be gay. What would people say? How would they react? Would they care? Laugh? Reject her? Leave her?

So Violetta shoved those feelings deep down in a box somewhere and hid that box in a closet right beneath all the  _ Lost Loves of Lady Heterodyne  _ books and the Popcorn Squirrel incident. And didn’t look at them, or acknowledge them. She just went straight into training, and preparing, and protecting. And then serving Agatha. And everything had been fine.

Until Paris.

Violetta could ignore how she was feeling when she read the  _ Lost Loves of Lady Heterodyne  _ books and act like there was nothing out of the ordinary, but then in the catacombs, she had just felt so lost and hopeless, like she was nothing. The worst smoke knight, the worst guardian, not even worth looking at.

And then Agatha had grabbed her chin, looked into her eyes, and said to her, “Violetta, aren’t you the smoke knight who walked out of Castle Heterodyne? You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

That moment lasted less than thirty seconds; Violetta wasn’t even sure if Agatha remembered it. But that was when she started to feel things about Agatha. Things she didn’t want to be,  _ shouldn’t be  _ feeling.

But she pushed on. And everything was fine.

Until ten minutes ago, when she was a complete nervous little flustered mess in front of Agatha.

Now she was sitting in her room in Castle Heterodyne, burying her face in her pillow and trying not to cry from the fear, the loneliness, the tiredness of carrying the secret for so long. And so Violetta went to her closet, where she sat down on a small pillow and pulled out from beneath a torn up jacket  _ The Lost Loves of Lady Heterodyne: Book 17.  _ Possibly her greatest secret, and probably very closely linked to how she was feeling about Agatha.

But how was she feeling this way about Agatha? In order for that to be true, she would have to be-

No. No, Violetta was a perfectly straight girl; she just...hadn’t found the right guy yet.

“Damn, girl, you’re really playing yourself on this one, aren’t you?” Violetta muttered to herself as she leaned back her head. She sighed and pulled her legs up to her chest, burying her face in her lap, and prayed that the rest of the world would just disappear, and she could hide in her closet, her small, uncomfortable closet forever.

“Knock knock! Anyone in here?”

“Noooo.” Violetta groaned out as she tilted her head back again.

“Alright! Coming in!”

Zeetha opened the door. “Vi, stop playing smoke knight! Where are you?”

“Here.”

Zeetha opened the closet door, and sat down next to Violetta. “Watcha’ reading?” And unceremoniously grabbed the book out of her hands.

“Give it back!” Violetta whined as she desperately reached for the book, but it was too late, Zeetha had seen it.

“Vi? Why are you reading Agatha Porn?”

“I’m not-”

“Uh-huh. Then why are all the pages with sex scenes in bookmarked?”

“So...I’d skip over them?”

Zeetha sighed and shook her head, but decided to let the matter go. “So, what was with you and Agatha in the lab today?”

Violetta played dumb. “I have no idea what you were talking about.”

Zeetha rolled her eyes and grinned. “Y’know, Skifandar’s patron Goddess Ashtara controls love. I can see what’s going on.”

Violetta leaned back, nervously. “W-What do you mean? Nothing’s going on.”

“Oh yeah? Then why do you get nervous whenever Agatha comes near? Why are you constantly offering to help her? Why do you convert to Total Idiot Mode around her? I swear, it’s worse than Hoffman and Larana.”

“Meaning…?”

“You clearly have a crush on Agatha!”   
  
Violetta didn’t know how to respond. She just curled up in a ball and tried to hold back the tears. She had tried for so many years to not let anyone know how she felt about girls, about Agatha, but it had all been futile. Zeetha had found out.

Zeetha’s face immediately transformed. “Hey hey hey, don’t cry. It’s okay.”

“Thought...if I ignored it...it would just...go away…” Violetta said between breaths.

“Why would you want it to go away?” Zeetha leaned in closer as she said this, moving to put her arm around Violetta.

“Not...supposed...to like...girls…thought you’d...leave me...if you knew...”

“And who told you that bullshit? Some training academy? Some old jerk who doesn’t have anything better to do than hurt people? You can like girls, Vi. You can like whichever gender you want, I don’t care.” Zeetha put her hand on Violetta’s shoulder. “I’ll always be here to support you, no matter what,. It’s okay to like girls. It’s okay.”

“Can’t tell...anyone else…”

“Of course not! That’s your choice to make, not mine.”

And then some dam in Violetta just broke. All the pain, secrets, anger and self-hatred that she had stuffed inside for years just came out. She buried her face in Zeetha’s chest and started crying, each sob wracking her body as the years of build-up emotion flowed out. Zeetha was startled at first, but pulled Violetta into a hug and began to stroke her hair.

“It’s okay, Vi. I’m here. Just let it out, it’s okay. I’ve got you. It’s okay.”

After maybe ten or so minutes, Violetta pulled away and wiped her eyes. “Thanks, Zeetha. I really needed that.”

“Hey, no problem. Anytime. Like I said, I’m here for you.”

“Stop it.” Violetta lightly punched Zeetha’s arm. “You’re gonna make me cry again.”

“Yeah, well, I think you needed it that time.”

“Yeah, I, I think I did.”

They sat there in silence for a moment, and then Zeetha looked at Violetta and said, “so, Agatha.”

“Yeah,” Violetta said only just really accepting it then, “Agatha.”

“So how long did it take you to figure out, you absolute gay disaster?” Zeetha said it in a teasing tone, but Violetta immediately shrank at the comment.

“Ah, sorry, did I say something I shouldn’t have? Oh, are you like, bi or pan instead?”

“No, I’m...pretty sure I only ever liked girls.”

“So lesbian.”

“I mean, I guess,” Violetta leaned back on her hands. “I’ve never really thought about it before. I kind of knew something was different when I was ten, and realized that at twelve, but I’ve never really thought about it until...well, until now.”

Zeetha moved next to Violetta again. “Y’know, one of the things I’ve never understood about Europa is how crazy you guys are about homosexuality. Back home, no one would care if two guys had sex or if you wanted to transition into a different gender.”   
  


“Really?” Violetta was kind of shocked. She’d never heard this about Skifandar.

“Yeah, and then I come here and there’s all these ‘contradictions’ and stuff around it. I dunno, it’s weird.”

“Damn, I wish I lived there. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about being…” Violetta trailed off, she had never truly admitted this to herself.

“About being what? A lesbian?”

“Ssshhh, not so loud!”

"Why not?"

"Because...I don't want people to know...I don't want to be seen as weird..."

Zeetha grabbed Violetta’s shoulders. “Violetta, repeat after me, okay?”

“Okay.”

“My name is Violetta Mondarev.”

“My name is Violetta Mondarev.”

“I am a smoke knight in service to the Lady Heterodyne,”

“I am a smoke knight in service to the Lady Heterodyne,”

“Whom I have a crush on.”

“Whom I have a crush on.”

“I am a lesbian,”

“I am a lesbian,”

“And that’s okay.”

“And that’s okay.”

“Say it again, louder this time, okay Violetta?”

“My name is Violetta Mondarev. I am a smoke knight in service to the Lady Heterodyne, whom I have a crush on. I am a lesbian, and that’s okay.”   
  


“I can’t hear you, still louder.”

“My name is Violetta Mondarev. I am a smoke knight in service to the Lady Heterodyne, whom I have a crush on. I am a lesbian, and that’s okay.”   
  


“One more time, as loud as you can.” Zeetha began to get up.

“My name is Violetta Mondarev!”

Violetta picked herself up off the floor.

“I am a smoke knight in service to the Lady Heterodyne, whom I have a crush on!”

She opened the closet door.

“I AM A LESBIAN!”

Violetta stepped out of the closet.

“And that’s okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yet again, please leave advice/feedback.
> 
> I'm too tired to do notes now, I'm going to bed, goodnight.


	3. In which Tarvek is a good brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Violetta runs out of the lab cause she's so flustered, and Tarvek wants to know what's up. He totally doesn't understand what she's going through. Yep, he definitely can't relate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had less inspiration for this chapter, so I hope it's as good as the others. Credit to phoenixyfriend for giving me the idea of how Tarvek is acting in this fic, along with Lampreys-for-days on Discord for inspiring a few lines.

Violetta was nervous. Very nervous. But at least she understood why now.

She’s gay. Very, very gay. And also a very much closeted gay. Who had a crush on the woman who she is sworn to guard, and sees every day. And can’t stop reverting to Useless Lesbain Mode around her (at least, that’s what Zeetha called it).

Like, just ten minutes ago, she had been so embarrassed when Agatha had hugged her for the idea she’d had that the had to leave the room to calm down.

_Dammit, Violetta. Smoke feels nothing, remember?_

Well, so much for that philosophy.

“Hey Violetta, where’d you go? Agatha is looking for you.”

Dammit, Violetta really didn’t want to talk to Tarvek right now. He’d have no idea how she was feeling or what was going on and in order to understand, she’d have to tell him. And the very notion of that made her really, really scared.

“Ah ha! I have found you!”

Violetta jumped, but then realized that it was only Zeetha, who at least knew what was going on.

“You found her? Alright Zeetha, I’m coming!” Tarvek must have been far down another hall, considering his voice sounded pretty far off.

“No, Zeetha!”

“Oh, what is it, Violetta?”

“I can’t let Tarvek see me like this! He’ll ask what’s going on and I’ll have to tell him and I can’t lie to him because he sees through my lies and I don’t want to…”

“Tell me what?”

Violetta turned, to see her cousin looking down at her curled on the floor in the corner, his arms crossed, with a very ‘I don’t know what’s going on but you’d better tell me’ sort of look.

“Ah, Tarvek, I…”

“No, Violetta, I can see you’re trying to hide something, and you don’t want me to know, and that’s okay.” He squatted down to talk to her more easily. “But whatever’s going on is really starting to affect you and how you act when we’re working, and that could be dangerous. So please, let me know what’s wrong.”

Violetta paused. Her heart was rising in her chest, her breathing fast. “I can’t…”

Tarvek placed his hand on her shoulder. “I won’t judge or question it or tell someone else without your permission. Promise.”

Violetta took a deep breath and looked at Zeetha, who was standing a few paces behind Tarvek. The princess gave her a thumbs up and mouthed “you got this,” a smile on her face.

Violetta looked back at Tarvek. “I have something really important to tell you. Zeetha’s the only other one who knows this…”

Tarvek jumped up. “What is it? Did someone hurt you? No, of course not, you would have killed them, and if not you, Zeetha would have.” He paused to think for a second. “Are you pregnant?”

“What? No, no, no, I’m not...I’m still a virgin, Tarvek!” Violetta sputtered, and kind of snapped at him.

“Well, you’d better get on that,” Zeetha said, a smirk on her face.

“Ignore her. No, Tarvek, what I’m trying to tell you is…” Violetta took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and looked him in the eye, “ _iamcompletelyinlovewithagatha.”_

“Uh, can you repeat that? I’m sorry, but I think I heard you wrong, or else you have a crush on Agatha-”

“I do.”

“What?

“Yeah, I like Agatha. I-I’m a lesbian, Tarvek.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”

“Blue lightning, Vi.”

“Yeah, blue lightning indeed.”

They paused for a moment. Violetta looked back at Zeetha, who smiled and gave her a small nod, then left. She looked back at Tarvek.

“Hey, cousin. You’ve got anything you wanna say?”

“No, just...just thinking.”

“Kay.” Violetta crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, biting her lip.

“I guess we have the same taste in women, don’t we?”

Violetta was confused. That’s all he had to say? She’d just told him her absolute biggest secret, and that’s his only reaction? Still, she played along. “Yeah, I guess we do.”

“So is this why you took a little longer than necessary to check Agatha for poisons after Zola stabbed her?”

Violetta turned red. “I didn’t have a crush on her then!” She saw the look Tarvek gave her. “I just happen to appreciate some things about the female body, that’s all.”

“Uh, huh, whatever you say, cousin.”

They sat there for another moment.

“Are you gonna say anything else?” Violetta was still nervous, waiting for more of a reaction.

“Do you want me to?”

“I...don’t know.”

“Hey, how about this?” Tarvek placed his hands on Violetta’s shoulders. “I love you, Violetta, and not because we’re related by blood. See, if I’ve learned anything in my life, it’s that family isn’t necessarily who you’re related to. It’s who you love, the people who you would burn down the world for, who you’d do anything for and who you know would do the same for you.”

He drew her into a hug. “Family is who has your back when things get rough and the world isn’t on your side, but despite it all they stick with you. Family is who you protect and trust, and who you help and support.”

He pushed back from the hug, hands still on her shoulders. “I support you, Violetta. Whatever you need. Because you’re the closest I have to a sibling who’s still alive, and I want to feel like you can trust me, because I know…” He paused, thinking about how to say the next thing. “I know that I want someone to be able to confide in and trust, and I want you to have the same. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

The two of them stayed there for another minute, just thinking.

“We should probably head back. Agatha will be wondering where we are.” Violetta started to walk back to the lab.

  
  
“Uh huh. She’ll be wondering where we are.” Tarvek said this in a teasing, mocking sort of tone.

“Shut up.” Violetta gently shoved him away.

“I’m just saying, for a smoke knight, you sure wear your heart on your sleeve, cousin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is it. Tarvek is being a good bro, and trying to support Violetta without outing himself. Read: trying. It won't last long.
> 
> In case you couldn't tell, I drew a lot of inspiration from the coming out scene in Stranger Things 3.
> 
> As always, feedback and advice is appreciated.
> 
> i've gotta do my homework now, i've procrastinated long enough


	4. In which Gil knows some things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Violetta wants to tell Gil, but GIl already knows that something is up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a little more filler, but we'll get to the big stuff next chapter. I hope you all enjoy!

Violetta was doing okay. Surprisingly, the last few weeks had been rather uneventful. No elaborate assasination attempts, no monsters the size of the Beast, and no plots or rebellions that were actually serious enough to warrant a full-on fight.

In other words, things seemed too quiet.

Or maybe life was giving her a break in the big things so she could focus on the less insane, we-have-to-save-Europa-now things.

Being closeted (as Zeetha had called it) was a pain in the ass. Any time she was around someone who wasn’t Zeetha or Tarvek, it felt like she was holding a bomb. The words were on her chest, begging to be said, and the nervousness was insane. Especially around Agatha.

Every time she saw her or heard her, Violetta would almost jump through the roof. She couldn’t be around Agatha for more than five minutes without her noticing that something was up, and she could barely get a coherent sentence out without her wanting to scream at the top of her lungs “I LOVE YOU!”

And Agatha wasn’t the only one who noticed something was up. Gil had been giving her very strange looks, watching her quizzically. Violetta knew it was only a matter of time before he figured it out.

So she decided to tell him.

It wasn’t gonna be that hard, right? She’d already come out to Tarvek and Zeetha, so Gil shouldn’t be hard, right? Right?

Yeah, right.

Because as Violetta approached Gil after breakfast, she couldn’t be more nervous.

“Hey, Gil?” Violetta needed to get him alone, which was gonna be hard, considering he was talking with his two lab partners, seeming very sparky.

“Yeah, what is it, Violetta?”

“Can I talk to you? Alone?”

“Ah, sure. I mean...I guess? Why? Can’t Agatha and Tarvek come along too?”

_ Is this... _ Tarvek mouthed to Violetta. He could see that she was nervous, uncomfortable, and she looked like she needed some help.

Violetta nodded quickly, and Tarvek understood. “Well, actually we can’t come, because there was something I wanted to show Agatha.”

“Oh, alright.” Gil seemed somewhat confused, but went along with it as Tarvek and Agatha left.

“What is it?” He turned to Violetta, who was nervous and biting her lip, which in itself was weird; Violetta was never visibly nervous.

“I have something important to tell you. A few people already know this but...I wanted to tell you.” She took a deep breath. “I’m, ah, I’m…”

“Gay? In love with Agatha?”

Violetta was shocked. She knew that it wasn’t her best kept secret, but she had hoped it wasn’t that obvious.

“Yeah...yeah, that’s it. You know?”

“I mean, yeah, it’s kind of obvious.”

Violetta became very scared, very fast. Gil wasn’t exactly observant. If he knew… “Does everyone know?”

“Oh, no. Just me, Bang, and whoever else you told. And probably the Castle, but the Castle knows all.”

This confused Violetta. “Really? But if you know…I mean, you’re not exactly…”

Gil laughed. “I know, I know, I’m oblivious. Or am I?” Violetta quizzically tilted her head.

“See, Violetta, that’s what I made everyone think. It’s easy to come off as smart when they all expect very little of you. Easy to fly under the radar, to go unnoticed, for people to think, ‘oh, we can ignore them, they won’t realize what we’re talking about.’ When in reality I know every plan, every piece of drama, and I only act on what I must, so it remains inconspicuous.”

Violetta was pretty amazed. “...smart.” They paused. “So you don’t think it’s weird.?”

Gil laughed again, and put his hand on her shoulder. “Violetta, four years ago I was alone, with only my father, no other family or friends. I hated Sturmvorous and didn’t know Agatha existed. Now I’m in a romantic relationship with them both, I’ve reconnected with my childhood friends, and I’ve met my mother and a twin I didn’t know I had.

“We build and fight monsters for a living. One of my closest allies is a talking cat. My current house literally has a mind of its own. I’ve fought the Other, for Ashtara’s sake!

“You think that I think girls loving girls is weird? I’ve been best friends with Dupree for years.  _ Zeetha  _ is my twin. My life is insane. Finding out that you’re a lesbian is a nice dose of normal.”

They stood there for a moment. Gil spoke up again. “Dupree also knows, by the way.”

Violetta looked up. “She does? How?”

“Oh, I was trying to figure out what was up with you, and Dupree hit my shoulder and said ‘she’s in love, dummy!’ I then put two and two together and realized you must be gay.”

Violetta pondered this for a moment. “So, she knows, as does you, Tarvek, Zeetha, and probably the Castle.”

“Yeah, sounds about right.”

They paused again. “Well, we should probably go to work now.” Gil was right, they had taken a while and Agatha would be wondering what happened.

“Yeah, lets go.”

As they walked towards the lab, Violetta asked Gil, “when I tell Agatha, will you help?”

Gil smiled. “I’ll help you with whatever you need. I know I’d want someone to do the same for me.”

The conversation had been so crazy that Violetta hadn’t noticed what Gil had said about him and Tarvek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it, folks! I just wanted to point out that Gil is very observant, despite how some see him. Also if Gil knows something Bang will learn it pretty damn soon.
> 
> As always, give me feedback and advice, it helps
> 
> thank you, happy weekend, and goodnight!


	5. In which Violetta confesses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Violetta has made her decision. It's become too hard to hide any longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, and we have arrived at the climax of the story! I hope you all enjoy this!
> 
> Credit to Samarkand12 on Discord for basically giving me a few of these lines!

Violetta had made up her mind.

Her crush on Agatha had grown too big to hide any longer. She just couldn’t handle her not knowing any longer. It was time to confess, see how things go, and pray that it all turns out okay.

And so, here they were, her, Zeetha, Sleipnir, and Agatha all sitting around in Agatha’s room, playing cards late at night on the floor, cause that’s what happens when Bang decides to take Gil and Tarvek to go kill whatever with the jagers and everyone else is too tired to speak.

“And so, three Aces. I win.”

“Sleipnir,  _ how? _ I swear that’s six games in a row.” Agatha looked at her suspiciously. “Are you cheating?”

“Nope.” Sleipnir picked up the cards and smirked. “Wasn’t much to do when you’re bored growing up on Castle Wulfenbach, so we played a lot of cards.”

“Ah. Makes sense.”

They all sat around for a moment, until Zeetha decided to break the silence with one of her usual useless and somewhat awkward quips.

“So is this the part where we talk about a secret one of us is hiding, or a deep dark emotional trauma, or something?”

“Thanks, Zeetha, but I’m kind of hoping I don’t have any more childhood traumas or secrets to uncover. I think we’ve all had enough of those.”

“Well, Sleipnir hasn’t ever shared an explosive family secret that could bring down the world, so what are you hiding?”

Sleipnir laughed. “Nothing dark and traumatic, but…”

Zeetha jumped up and began bouncing up and down. “What? What is it? What?”

“Theo proposed two nights ago.”

Zeetha screamed. “Atta girl!” She wrapped Sleipner in an overenthusiastic hug. “I’m so happy for you guys.”

“G-g-grt Ztha cn’t breef…”

“Hey, Agatha, aren’t you surprised?” Wow, Violetta managed to say a coherent sentence directly to her. It kind of sucked that that was a major accomplishment for her.

“No. Theo told me he was going to, mainly because I am literally his only surviving blood relative who hasn’t tried to kill him.”

“Hey, that means we’re gonna be in-laws!” Sleipner said this after somehow getting herself out of Zeetha’s chokehold of a hug, and hugged Agatha in return.

“Alright, anyone else got some secrets to share?”

“Zeetha, we’re not teenagers, okay? We aren’t supposed to do this stuff anymore.”

“You only say that because Lilith raised you as too ‘proper’ to ever have any fun.”

“Attempting to screw your boyfriend in a very public place  _ in my city- _ ”

“Aaaaanyway, Violetta, you’ve got anything you want to tell us?”

Violetta took a deep breath. Zeetha was giving her the opportunity, and the way she was looking at Agatha made it clear that this was what she wanted to happen. “Yeah, yeah I do have a secret.”

She sat up straight and repositioned herself. “Zeetha already knows this, and so do Gil and Tarvek-maybe even Bang, but that’s not important right now-” She took another deep breath. “I’m a lesbian.”

The room was silent for a moment. Zeetha patted her on the shoulder. Sleipnir seemed to take a moment to take in the new information, and nodded. Agatha, however, spent a good minute thinking about it.

“Uh, Agatha? What-”

Agatha looked up. “It’s nothing.” She then sighed and smiled. “I’m just trying to figure out who your parents must be in the Storm King’s family for you to be from Lesbos, and-”

Zeetha, Violetta and Sleipnir all burst out laughing. “What? Is it obvious? Did I miss something?”

“No, no, no.” Violetta repositioned herself. “You’re joking, though, right?”

Agatha seemed very confused. “No..I have no idea which one of your parents is from Lesbos-  _ Zeetha why are you laughing? _ ”

“Agatha, dear, Violetta is not from Lesbos. She is Romanian, through and through.”

“Then why-”

“What I’m trying to say is-I’m a lesbain like Sappho. I’m homosexual. When it comes to romance, I only like girls.”

Agatha processed for a moment, and then the realization, along with a very long “ooooohhhhh” hit her.

“Yeah, oh.”

“That...makes a lot more sense.”

“You don’t think it’s weird.” As soon as she said it, Violetta mentally slapped herself.  _ Dammit why did you say that? _

Agatha laughed. “Violetta, I’ve spent the last few years of my life being best friends with  _ her.” _ She pointed at Zeetha. “Trust me, telling me you love women is nowhere near the level I got with having to listen to her innuendos.”

Violetta laughed. “Yeah, I guess you have a point.”

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Sleipnir said, somewhat nervously, “how did you figure it out?”

Violetta looked at Zeetha, who nodded and gave her a thumbs up, then at Agatha, and then she collapsed backwards, lying on the floor.

“I knew something was different about me when I was ten; there was this one trainer we had that almost everyone in the class had a crush on, even Tarvek said that he was reasonably attractive. But I didn’t see it. At all.

“Then we learned about homosexuality and stuff like that when I was twelve, and at that point, I guess a part of me knew. But I didn’t want to admit it, so I denied it for years.

“And then I had no friends, no one to talk to, just compartmentalizing all of my problems. Until, well…”

Violetta smiled. “My cousin got himself hurt, and then forced me to take him to Castle Heterodyne. And there I met this girl. Like, this amazing girl. I mean, she’s smart, and funny, and we’ve fought the Other and gotten frozen in time together and we’ve been together for years. She was the first person to ever really believe in me, and...well, she is honestly the most amazing person I’ve ever met. And I’m completely in love with her.”

Violetta sighed, and pulled herself up. “Yeah, that’s about it.”

Zeetha gave Violetta a look, and mouthed  _ I’m proud of you _ . Violetta smiled, and mouthed back,  _ thank you. _

“That...kind of makes sense.” Everyone looked at Sleipnir. “I’ll...just be quiet now…”

Violetta turned back to Agatha, who was still just sitting, digesting the information. “Do you...have anything to say Agatha?”

“Sleipnir is right.”

Violetta perked up. “Oh?”

“About it being somewhat obvious. I knew something was up with you, but only around me...it makes sense now that I think about it.”

“Alright.” They were silent for another minute. “Is that all you have to say?”

“I...don’t know.” Agatha sighed. “I...don’t want to hurt you, but I don’t feel the same way. I’m sorry…?”

“No, no, you don’t have to be sorry.” Violetta rushed to get Agatha to stop apologizing. “We can’t help who we love. I...wasn’t expecting you to reciprocate feelings anyway.”

“Oh, alright.” Agatha paused for another moment. “In that case, I just want you to know that I...I support you, okay? And if you ever need help picking up a girl…”

“Blue fire, no. Gil and Tarvek both offered as well, and there’s no way I want any of you three to be my wingman considering how your love lives are all going!”

They all laughed, and Violetta believed in that moment that maybe, things might be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it, Violetta did it, she confessed!
> 
> There will be another chapter of aftermath, folks, and Tarvek has some secrets of his own in that one.
> 
> Don't ask why Sleipnir was there, she just showed up kinda
> 
> k i gotta go study chemistry before i fail another class


	6. In which Bang has popcorn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Violetta comes out to everyone, and Gil does something stupid. Somehow no one is surprised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter, guys! I really enjoyed this fic, and I'll probably write Gay Violetta in the modern Girl Genius AU I'm doing that is mostly based off of the "WHAT GOOD NAME" D&D AU on Discord. (also known as the d&d au in the fic Sowing Discord).
> 
> I'm just rambling now. Enjoy the conclusion of Closeted Lesbian Violetta!

Violetta decided that if she was going to come out to everyone, she might as well start with the jagers.

“I like girls. Romantically.”

“Don’t ve all, sveethort?” 

“Ho, yez,” Maxim said butting in, “which onez have hyu got your eye on?”

“Hoy, Maxim, Oggie, leave da poor gurl alone and get back to work.” Jenka then patted Violetta on the back, and ran off to catch up with the others as they went to work.

Okay, the jagers are cool with it. Of course, the jagers couldn’t care less what you do as long as you don’t try to kill their Heterodyne or her family.

Now just for everyone else.

* * *

“I have a crush on Agatha. I’m a lesbian.”

“I’m a cat.”

“Excuse me?”

Krosp looked pointedly at Violetta. “I’m sorry, I thought we were stating the blatantly obvious.”

* * *

“I...I’m like Sapphos. I’m attracted to girls.”

Seffie pondered this for a minute. “Is it okay if I tell Martellus?”

“Ah…” Violetta paused for a minute. “Sure?” One less person she’d have to tell directly then.

Seffie left, and thirty seconds later, Violetta heard a distant voice yell, “Martellus, you owe me twenty silver!”

* * *

“I’m gay.”

“I know,” Martellus grumbled, “you cost me twenty silver.’

“Well, I’d consider that an accomplishment.” Violetta left the room smiling.

* * *

“Hey, Violetta, you wanna go with me and Snaug to get a drink tonight?”

“Moloch, I’m gay.”

Moloch paused and thought for a second. “Well, if you have a girlfriend, feel free to invite her too. But I get an extra drink.”

* * *

“I-”

Vanmonde cut her off. “If you say ‘I’m gay’, I will kick your ass. I’ve gotten three separate spymaster reports of it this week.”

“Who the hell-”

Vanmonde raised his hand. “Jagers. Once one knows, they all know, and so do I. But no one else. Promise.”

Violetta sighed. “Well, at least there’s that.”

* * *

Now, Violetta was planning on coming out to the rest just as smoothly as she had handled everyone prior. But life had other plans.

Damn Tweedle. He had to make a really stupid joke, and obviously point at Violetta, and now everyone was looking at her weirdly. And now she would have to tell them all. Great.

Martellus was  _ so dead. _

“Okay, okay, you can do this,” Violetta muttered under her breath. She looked across the table at Zeetha, who gave a thumbs up, and mouthed  _ you got this _ at her.

“Ah, yeah, so, um...I might be homosexual. As in, I am romantically and sexually attracted to girls. Only girls.” Well, that was easier to say than expected.

“Well, yes, that’s what ‘homosexual’ means,” Higgs deadpanned.

The room was awkwardly quiet for a moment. Until Bang pointed it out.

“Bang, you don’t point out the awkward silence. That just makes it more awkward.” Gil facepalmed, how was he supposed to deal with all this?

“Aw, but that’s no fuuuuun.” Bang had this shit-eating grin on her face, and it made Violetta afraid of what she was gonna do next.

“Well, since no one has called me anything yet, I’m gonna assume you’re all okay with this?” Deep down Violetta knew that no one was gonna judge her, but the fear was still there.

“Of course we are, Violetta.” Tarvek’s response was sudden, and kind but firm. “Look, I don’t know what is going on in your head right now-how could I-but I bet you’re scared cause you know that even though we all accept you and love you, deep down there’s still that irrational fear of rejection-hypothetically, of course. I can’t possibly know how you-”

“Oh, give it a rest, you closeted bisexual disaster.” Violetta turned to see Theo entering the room with Sleipnir. “We all know you and Gil have had crushes on each other since childhood, and you formed a harem with Agatha, so you can stop pretending to be straight now.”

The room was dead silent.

“What? Why are you all surprised? It’s ridiculously obvious! Gil even casually jokes about it without realizing.” Sleipnir was wildly waving her arms around as she said this.

Agatha and Tarvek both stared at Gil, who started slowly backing away. “We thought we agreed-”

“I know, I tried! But Zeetha figured it out in two hours and I figured that if she knew everyone knew, so I just...kind of started joking about it. I’m surprised no one noticed.”

“Oh, I definitely noticed.” They all turned to see Bang sitting on a table eating popcorn. “Despite Gil actually being observant, he cannot hide things to save his life. It’s a wonder he’s not dead with his...blatant flaunting of everything ever.”

“Definitely,” Tarvek said through gritted teeth.

“Gil, you and I are going to talk about this with Tarvek.  _ Alone _ .” And Agatha grabbed her boys and pulled them out of the room.

“Make sure to use protection, you guys!” Zeetha yelled after them, a shit-eating grin on her face.

“Zeetha, I will hunt you down, flay you, and wear you as a hat!” Gil’s anger could be heard down the hall.

“Bring it on, weakling!”

“Yeah, if you can’t beat me, you’ll never beat Zeetha!” Bang said this with a mouthful of popcorn, and ended up spitting it everywhere. 

“Why do you even have popcorn?” Moloch asked as he got a broom.

“It was interesting. And so popcorn was a good comedic effect.” Bang rolled her eyes. “Duh.”

Violetta smiled and sat back. It had been a crazy six weeks, but now, now things were starting to seem okay, normal.

Or as normal as their lives would ever get now; ruling Europa and saving it every other week wasn’t exactly a boring life.

But it was theirs, and now? Now Violetta was finally happy with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it, folks! Hope you enjoyed, that was actually the first multi-chapter fic I've ever written, so I'm proud of it.
> 
> And no, Tarvek is not getting away from this torture. He has earned it by being such a closeted disaster.
> 
> As for Bang always having popcorn for comedic effect when something interesting happens, that does happen irl. I know because I've done it.
> 
> As always, advice and constructive criticism are helpful, and I love to hear them.
> 
> thank you, and goodnight


End file.
